See Graphics APIs in Windows for more details. Windows 7 and Windows Vista support DirectX 11, which supports Direct3D 11, Direct2D, DirectWrite, the WARP10 software rendering device, and the 10level9 feature levels. Windows Vista includes DirectX 10, which supports the Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) and Direct3D 10.x. The core components for DirectX 9.0c have not changed since the DirectX SDK Summer 2004 Update, and they match what was released with Microsoft Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Pro 圆4 Edition, and Windows Server 2003 SP1. The core components, such as Direct3D and DirectInput, are considered part of the operating system. The DirectX runtime consists of core components and optional components. For more details on the current state of the DirectX SDK, see Where is the DirectX SDK?, and the blog post Not So Direct Setup.

Using the legacy DirectX SDK requires the use of the deprecated DirectSetup for components such as D3DX9, D3DX10, D3DX11, XAudio 2.7, XInput 1.3, and XACT. The legacy DirectX SDK is at end-of-life, but it's still available in order to support old games, tutorials, and projects.

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